Caribbean Cruises TCPA Class Action Settlement

Class Eligibility

Prior to Settlement, the Court certified two Classes—a Class on behalf of individuals who received calls on their landline telephones and a Class of people who received calls on their cellular telephones—and decided that the Classes include: any person who received (1) one or more telephone calls made by, on behalf of, or for the benefit of the Defendants, (2) purportedly offering a free cruise in exchange for taking an automated public opinion and/or political survey, (3) which delivered a message using a prerecorded or artificial voice, (4) between August 2011 and August 2012, (5) and your (i) telephone number appears in Defendants’ records of those calls and/or the records of their third party telephone carriers or the third party telephone carriers of their call centers or (ii) your own records prove that you received the calls—such as your telephone records, bills, and/or recordings of the calls—and you submit an affidavit or claim form if necessary to describe the content of the call. The Settlement covers these same classes, which together is called the “Settlement Class” in the agreement.

You may be part of the Settlement Class if you received one or more of these calls and any of the following is also true:

Your information appeared in Defendants’ records, in which case you would have likely received an email or postcard and claim form in the mail;

Even if you did not receive an email or postcard in the mail about this Settlement, you may still be part of one of the Settlement Class if your number appears in Defendants’ records. Click here to see if your number appears in Defendants’ records; or

You recall getting one of the automated calls described above and one of the numbers appearing here appears on your cell phone and/or landline telephone bills or records; or

You recall getting one of the automated survey calls described above and you are able to prove that you received such a call, with some documentation, such as a telephone bill showing that you received the call, a recording of the call, a caller ID record of the call, or a screenshot of the call, or some other form of documentation evidencing your receipt of the call.

This lawsuit claims that Defendants violated the TCPA by making automated survey calls offering a free cruise in exchange for taking a political and/or public opinion survey. The Plaintiffs allege that Defendants marketed timeshare and vacation properties through the calls. Many, but not all, of the surveys were from Political Surveys of America. If an individual was offered the opportunity to participate in the survey in exchange for a free cruise, after answering the survey questions, he or she then had the option of being transferred to a Caribbean Cruise Line representative.

Defendants deny these allegations and deny that the telephone calls violated the law. The court has not decided whether the Defendants did anything wrong. The Settlement is a compromise to end the lawsuit and avoid the uncertainties and costs associated with a trial.

I’m also beginning to believe Noone will get paid. I haven’t seen any updates. When you call there aren’t any recent updates. Then I come here and it seems as if the administration is irritated with poor Felicia asking when she can expect to get paid. I don’t see the harm in wanting to know what is going on with the case. Also, there is a new class action lawsuit going around for the same or similar circumstances as this case. Only difference was the expected pay out amounts. Someone told me not to get involved in this. I was told they never really pay out. All of the money usually goes to pay the legal fees and stuff.

ADMIN – Hi Sherita,

Updates on settlements will not take place until after the deadline. Once the deadline has passed the administrator will provide updates once he has finishing processing all the claims. There are hundreds of TCPA settlements going around. The expected payout amounts vary based on the pool and specific settlement rules. As for participating, it is totally your option. You are not required to be a class member.

Of course everybody knows they have the option to participate or not. Seems administration can give everything but updates. What are they paying you for? If no updates will be given until after the deadline has passed, how bout the update simply state that there are no further updates available until the deadline has passed? Otherwise why keep telling people to call the number or check the website if you know there will be no updates. Furthermore if administration has a problem with people asking for updates, how bout find a job you enjoy and stop with snide remarks when people inquire.

ADMIN – Hi Sherita,

You do know that we are not the class action administrator and we do not get paid for managing this website?
In their defense, the class action admin for this settlement is handling the case in a way that meets the requirements set forth by the courts. They will post updates and update their voicemail when they have something new to say. This can be before or after the deadline. It all depends on what happens in court.

As a general rule a class action administrator gets paid to administer the funds, disseminate the notices and validate the claims submitted.

It says Final Approval Hearing:
Scheduled for February 23, 2017 at 9:30 am The first payment will be made WITHIN seven (7) months after the entry of an order finally approving the Settlement. Any changes will be posted at this settlement website.
I haven’t seen any changes on this settlement website. So technically shouldn’t checks be showing up in mailboxes soon?
Thanks again, Tina

ADMIN – Hi Tina,

A final approval hearing does not necessarily result in a court order. All settlements are paid after the deadline if there is a pro rata consideration. In this case the settlement deadline is in November.

Here is their FAQ regarding timelines

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on April 4, 2018 to decide whether to grant final approval to the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. It is always uncertain whether appeals will be filed and, if so, how long it will take to resolve them. Settlement payments will be provided as soon as possible, if and when the Court grants final approval to the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved.

I just read on the site that final approval was granted on March 2, 2017. However, an appeal was filed on March 23, 2017. It went on to say that claims will not be paid until all appeals are exhausted.

The party that objected to the attorney fee award on March 23, 2017, was denied fees on August 25. That objection, not an appeal as someone stated previously, shouldn’t prevent on-time payments of the first installments under the settlement agreement. Therefore, payments should have gone out by October 2, 2017-seven months after final approval. Any updates?

ADMIN – Hi Lashawn,

The last update I saw was sent via email indicating that the settlement amount had been reduced due to a large number of valid claims.

So basically what happened to the money? The class action attorneys got a huge chunk of it and the defendants are looking at less than a dollar per call which may be paid in two installments in 2018? Basically it was better to opt out and obtain your own counsel. You would get better updates and you will see the breakdown of hours spent and billed deducted from the amount you received. You are being very ambiguous on the number of valid claims and the amount that you solicited people to sign up is much less than what you promised? What is the case number so we can read the updated briefs.Thanks

ADMIN – Hi Arne,

The attorneys received the same chunk of money regardless of the number of valid claims. The amount listed was based on an estimation made by the class action administrator who expected a low percentage of those affected to claim. We did not make a promise nor did the attorneys or the class action administrator. All of us called the amount an estimated amount with the caveat that the pool would be divided proportionately among the affected parties. If you head to the official settlement page you will find a section called documents where you can dig deeper into the details of the case.

As always, please remember that Class Action Rebates is simply the messenger.

UPDATE: The Court’s Final Approval Order is currently pending appeal before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which means that the Court’s Order is not “Final,” as defined in Section 1.20 of the Settlement Agreement, and payments will not issue until the Court’s Order is Final. The first round of payments will be made within 180 days after the Court’s Order is Final. The Court’s Order will be “Final” only if/when all appeals are resolved in favor of upholding the settlement. Briefing on the appeals is scheduled to conclude at the end of 2017 and there will likely be oral argument some time in early 2018. Unfortunately, we can’t predict when the Seventh Circuit will return a decision on the appeals. However, we will continue to keep the settlement website updated with any developments in the appeals process.

Lawyers and third parties. SMH To my understanding that is not what I understand a Settlement shoud be. The people most affected by this violation of privacy do not even have a voice and according to how it is going, compensation either! I need to become a lawyer or a professional appealer!

ADMIN – Hi Wondering,

I think the path to become a professional appealer may be cheaper than going to law school. However, you may find law school more rewarding and profitable.

Have the oral arguments been set for those appealing? The final approval was awarded last March and then somebody appealed and and the 7th was s supposed to schedule. So what is the status andx how much will this impact the resulting settlement payouts

IK people, as with all class action lawsuits, the lawyers wind up with the overwhelming lion’s share. I don’t even bother opting in anymore as the most I’ve ever received is 1.86, after it went on for 3 years.

ADMIN – Hi Bob,

I am sorry about that. I have been fortunate to qualify for a few and received about $100 every year.